Work on lock near Loxwood nearing completion

THE ANTICIPATED final steps towards the rebuilding of Southlands lock have started to take shape.

Work to restore Southlands lock, near Loxwood will be closer to completion at the end of September when a new set of lock gates is delivered to the site.

Delivery of the gates will mark the final stages of a programme of work to rebuild the lock that has taken two years and more than 5000 hours of volunteer labour.

Restoration of the lock will enable the Wey and Arun Canal Trust, which has been working to restore the canal for over 40 years, to extend the navigable section of the route further northwards.

The £44,000 lock gates are in the final stages of construction and the 3.5-tonne bottom gates and 1.5-tonne top gates are expected to be lifted into position by a 24-tonne tracked excavator on September 26.

The Wey and Arun Canal Trust would like to thank the landowners for their generosity in allowing access across their land during the construction work at Southlands, as the lock is more than a mile away from public roads.

The Southlands lock gates will be officially handed over to the Wey and Arun Canal Trust at 3pm on September 27.